[Scenario Seed/Location] The Bottleneck.

[Catsmate]

The Free State of Bottleneck.
Everyone likes a micro-state¹, historical (Neutral Moresnet), modern (San Marino, Monaco), odd (Fraxinet), dubious (Sealand), new (Surtsey), near future (geneered coral islands as discussed previously), fictional (Genovia, Averna), space (Danni’s Oxygen Shack and Grill²). Too many Ruritanian romances....

Often they seem to be the product of drawling lines on maps, leaving bits out. Generally until someone notices then the Great Experiment in Self Government ends rapidly (Free Republic of Schwarzenbergm, Republic of Freedonia). Or sometimes people don’t notice for a while and there isn't the interest in annexation (Republic of Cospaia or this excellent video).

So here’s another one, suitable perhaps as a location for a scenario.

The Free State of Bottleneck (or ‘The Bottleneck’) was the product of cartographic errors when the Great War was ended and occupation zones allocated. It fell between the circles drawn on Koblenz (American zone), and Mainz (French zone) in what had been the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau. It existed, all 17,000 people and 115 square kilometres, for four years (10JAN1919 to 25FEB1923. Squeezed between the two circles the statelet appears to resemble the neck of a wine bottle. It lacked much industry, rail or road links or anything else really.

The Free State of The Bottleneck was declared by the Mayor of Lorch, one Edmund Anton Pnischeck, who was later elected as President, on 10JAN1919. He ordered the production of currency, stamps and passports. The principle activities of the statelet appear to have been:

• Wine production
  
• Smuggling
• Wine smuggling
  

There's not a lot of detail on what went on there for it's brief existence, other than the notable hijacking (apparently with the aid of the rail crew) of a trainload of reparation coal going from the Ruhr to France.

After it's four years of existence the Free State of Bottleneck was abolished on 23FEB1923 as part of the French Occupation of the Ruhr. The Bottleneck was eventually reincorporated with the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau.


Game Use.
A spot in Europe most people haven't heard of? The perfect place to drop a small group of time travellers. Perhaps local digging (for coal perhaps) has unearhed Something Nasty?


Alternate History.
Or perhaps in the Whoniverse this statelet survives to the present day? Maybe President Pnischeck played the French, Belgians, British and Germans off against each other and the state survived until '39, only to be re-established after the Second World War.



Comments? Ideas? Suggestions?





1. Well I do...

2. “Last chance for proper vat grown meat ‘til Delta Eridani”. Also the perfect place for a few time travellers to arrive, in an abandoned tunnel, just in time for Doings to Transpire when a passing ship stops for emergency warp coil repairs...

[grinch]

Sounds like one of the miscellaneous European locales, Nemesis was always sending the Champions off to investigate. When they weren't pottering about submarines or the Arctic...

Within the realm of 'Doctor Who', I could maybe see it in the modern day serving as a remote UNIT outpost (where a few troublemakers are sent off to) or maybe even one of their Black Archives. A Black Archive which contains materials which would pose a serious loss of life should they activate in a highly populated area.

Your PCs would either land there or be sent there by UNIT when the Archive refuses to answer any and all communication.